Tuesday, December 16, 2008

Confessions of a keen home sewer.

There are several words to describe the person who recreationally sews. There's sewer. That's me. I like the ambiguity: that it is also the word for a pipe which carries effluent.

There's sewist. I hate that word. I thought it was an irrational dislike until I explored its suffix family : therapist, dentist, specialist, radiologist, cardiologist, oncologist, chemist, pharmacist. There we go - an unhealthy association with illness. 

I have also read blogs where people refer to themselves as a "sewing hobbyist." That's kind of cute, but a little long off the tongue.

There's another word "seamstress." This has an altogether more glamorous word family: adulteress, mistress, seductress. If Nigella Lawson sewed, she'd be a seamstress.

Anyway this keen home sewer is on to her next project. A summer weight full length denim skirt. I've been itchin' for some top stichin' and this will be my ride.

4 comments:

  1. Laughs ... I like this post though I am the kind of person who resists pigeon-holing so maybe 'someone who sews' fits me better ... grins. Thanks for the comment on my next project, I'm hoping the end is as interesting as the beginning!

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  2. The thesaurus has another one: "needlewoman". That one sounds like someone who is rather prickly! "That's a horrible thing to say, you needlewoman!".
    I like the "someone who sews" description- no suggestions of perfection, or otherwise...

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  3. Along the lines of patternmaker, how about dressmaker? I never liked sewist either. And in the phone book, sewer is just too close to sewer, (n) an artificial conduit, usually underground, for carrying off waste water and refuse, as in a town or city, and (v) to provide or equip with sewers. "Let's sewer the home!"

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